solesvssousWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“soles” and “sous” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,480
“soles” frequency rank
#48,705
“sous” frequency rank
61185
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature soles sous
Definition Ojos hermosos. Forma del plural de sou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set soles and sous apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
soles
4 ch
sous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. soles ([ˈsoles]) and sous ([ˈsows]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

soles is recorded at frequency rank #12,480, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsoles]. sous is at rank #48,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsows].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 61185, this pair ranks #56,349 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of soles vs sous

Shared letters: os. Private to "soles": el. Private to "sous": u.

"soles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • solesosles · sloes · soels · soless · solles · solse · ssoles
  • sousosus · sosu · souss · ssous

Frequency comparison

soles#12,480
sous#48,705

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "soles" and "sous" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsoles] versus [ˈsows]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "soles" or "sous"?
"soles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,480 in our Spanish list, against #48,705 for "sous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering soles vs sous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “soles” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list